Many chemical processes involve or create challenging environments. In order to operate optimally, or even acceptably, equipment used in such processes must be comprised of materials capable of withstanding the harsh conditions within which it is expected to operate. In particular, processes involving extreme temperatures, pH, and salt and/or halide concentrations may typically employ equipment based in whole or in part on enameled steel, graphite, or titanium in order to obtain the desired equipment performance and/or lifetime.
For example, the production of chlorohydrins may typically generate process and/or waste streams comprising concentrations of halogenated byproducts and/or chloride salts that may be corrosive to equipment comprised of non-specialized materials like carbon, steel and many grades of stainless steel. Degradation or fouling of process equipment can not only be inefficient in time and cost aspects, but also, can result in contamination of the desired product(s). Unfortunately, the use of specialized materials such as graphite, titanium or hastelloy and/or materials provided with protective coatings, such as enameled or glass-lined steel, in such processes can be cost prohibitive.
It would thus be desirable to provide chemical processing equipment comprising non-specialized materials and/or materials not provided with protective coatings that could yet withstand the harsh processing conditions created in many chemical processes. In particular, such equipment could be particularly advantageously utilized in processes that generate or include high pH, high salt, and/or high oxidation potential process streams, such as those utilized and/or created in the production of chlorohydrins.